According to ABC11, the all-time winningest coach in New England Patriots history is headed for the college ranks.
A source tells the Raleigh-based news station that the University of North Carolina Board of Trustees is set to meet Wednesday to approve the contract for Bill Belichick to be the 35th head football coach in UNC history.
The 72-year-old succeeds college football legend Mack Brown as the next man at the helm for the Tar Heels, as UNC announced the firing of the 73-year-old days after a blowout loss to Boston College at Chestnut Hill. Brown finished the 2024 season 6-6, bringing his overall record at Chapel Hill to 44-33 during his second stint as their head coach (2019-24).
The just-over-.500 nature of Brown’s tenure describes the essence of Tar Heels football to a tee. Playing football since 1888, UNC has a winning percentage of .566, with only 8 conference titles to its name.
Yes, that’s 8 conference titles in 136 years of playing football at the collegiate level.
So if you’re sitting here thinking, ‘UNC football feels beneath Bill Belichick,’ that’s completely reasonable.
But according to reporting from The Read-Optional’s Ollie Connolly, a North Carolina program under Belichick would be a far different experience than the UNC football of old.
Here’s what Connolly posted on X on Tuesday:
In 29 seasons as a coach at the professional level, Belichick amassed 302 regular season wins. That’s good for third all-time, behind Pro Football Hall of Fame coaches George Halas (318) and Don Shula (328). His 31 playoff wins, 9 conference championships and 6 Super Bowl wins rank No. 1 for head coaches in NFL history.
Belichick’s pursuit of the NFL all-time regular season wins record will go on hold, for now, as he attempts to bring the winning culture he helped establish in New England to a North Carolina program that has never come close to the top of the college football mountain.
While Belichick is most often linked with the Navy football program, with his dad coaching there for 34 years (1956-89), Belichick also has ties through his father to UNC.
Before joining the Navy coaching staff in 1956, the late Steve Belichick spent three seasons as the backfield coach for the Tar Heels (1953-55). On Monday, ESPN's Adam Schefter posted a rare photo of a young Bill Belichick at UNC's Kenan Stadium from the "mid-1950s" on X.com.
So, beneath Belichick? Sure. But not completely random.
Stay locked in to WEEI and WEEI.com for the latest on this developing story.